Battery



Aug, 'ze'. 1924.

N. D. STURGES 'BATTERY Filed Dec. A13 1922 INVENTOR Patented Aug. 26, 1924.`

NQRMAN DEXTER sTUncEs, or BELLEROSE, New Yoniz.

= BATTERY.

Application led December 13,1922..LSeria1.No.1606,610.

To aZZaozom it may concern:

, Be .it known that I, NORMAN DEXTER STURGES, a. citizen 'ofthe United States, residi ing-.at Bellerose, in the county of Nassau,

with separators of1wood -or har State of New York, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Batteries; and I d ohereby decla-re the following to be a full, clear, 'and exact' description of the invention, such as will enable others, skilled in the-artk to .which it appe'rtains to make and use thejsame. v

This invention' relates to storage batteries, and particularly to. improvements thereln whereby `the plates yare insulated without employing separators.'

Storagezbatteries are commonly rovided rubber which are interposed between each pair of f elements to prevent. contactbetween the elements and consequentshort-circuiting of the battery. These separators deteriorate rapidly, particularly-` when made of wood, and are often broken .when the battery is disassembled for inspection or repair. The separators Very'materially increase the internal resistance of the battery, and in the case of wood contaminate the electrolyte with soluble constituents of the wood. 'Wood separa- -f lLors are particularly undesirable when used with jelly electrolytes probably because the soluble organic substances in the wood, which are dissolved by the electrolyte, are not disseminated so 4readily `as with liquid elecy trolytes..

It is the objectof the present invention to avoid the use of separators by employing insulating bands of Celluloid orequivalent material, and in the present instance these bands l consist of material which is readily available in the market in continuous lengths so that it may be applied to battery elements of any size. preferably by winding about theL elements in the manner hereinafter described.

'I Besides overcoming the disadvantages of Fig.; 2 is aside elevation of a battery elementillustrating` the manner bands' thereto; and

Fig. 3 is a similanview illustrating theapplication of thebands in a slightly; different manner. l

In carrying out the invention.' I prefer to employ celluloidrwhichis available in the market in the form of beading.? 4This materlal vis produced in continuous lengths and 1s .ordinarily circular in section, may have a squareor other section so far as its application to the present purpose isl concerned. Celluloid is preferred, owing-to its reslstance to acids` its 'exibility'whenin the formdescribed, and its elasticitywhich permits Astretching of the material over the bat'- tery elements and facilitates its 'retentionfin proper position thereon. Celluloidzbeading ofround section and having a diameter/from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch-is preferred, although the-diameter may vary, dependingupon the desired degree lof separation of the battery elements.

'T he bands are preferably appliedtothe positive elements or plates for the reason that this arrangement permits assemblage of the battery elements in a jar of normal size in which there are usually an even number of positive plates and an odd number of negative plates. The bands may be applied to the negative plates, but in this case itwould be necessary to modify the size of the battery jar. It is obviously preferable to utilize battery jars of standard dimensions and to apply the bands in such a manner that the usual number of elements may be assembled therein when the insulating bands have been applied to the elements.

Y Otherwise than in the substitution of the insulating bands forthe separators, the battery may be substantially identical in its structural features with ordinary storage batteries. It may consistof a plurality'of plates made up of the usual lead grids with a mixture of red lead Aand litliarge pasted thereon. The bands may be applied either before or after the forming operation in which the pasted material on tlie positive plates is changed to peroxide of lead and that on the negative lates is reduced to spongy lead. The ban s may be applied in various ways, but in the preferred form of the invention the continuous strip of beading is secured near one edge at the top of the plate, looped once around the plate,

of applying. the i although it -1' r passed diagonally across ,one4 the plate, :looped again aro-und Itlie lovven'part of the plate and passed diagonallyacross.

the opposite face of the,.platerthefreeVend being then fastened to' the plate.""To secure the ends of the bands it is suflicienttof,y

provide a'n opening of similar diameter through the lat-e, insert-thee-.ends'and-exs pand them slightly by a light blow with a suitable "too'l.. "0f v course, the-ends :may be cementedv toget-her: -or l tog the.r `'platey .i lby 1 lthe'- use of a Celluloid cementor others'uitable material. A, variation ofi the application of halve been.appliedfin` suitable' manner,

' :The invention'i's part1cularlyf-lesirable ein the plates4 .arekassembledf iii afb-jar Jwith 4the negative. andv positive plates alternating and the'A` bands preventing fco'r'ltact' `vof pla-,tesi 'lof opposite polarity; 1 'fa if' 2: v l 1"'l.-

connection Withthe use f- `jelly A1electr/blytels." A suitable electrolyte ,for-'th'e' purp'osemay bei prepared by "mixing"silicate Iof-jsoda 8.30 B. and sulfuric acid '35.221B; yin'v the proportion of onepart by lvolume of silicate of soda -tol 1.7 parts"by volume'oflsulfuric acid. Such -a mixture 'may' bef pou-red- `into the battery Aafter thev plates have been-assemf bled until it-covers `theplates.lflllieiniixturewil'l quickly jell'. :The composition-'de scribed is merelyI illustrativeandlpmay'be varied vas to proportions and ingredients, jelly electrolytes being Well' :knownfin'f the art. With such 'electrolyte',s, ',w'vhicl are highly desirable ininlany'v types of batteries, particularly those Aused in automobiles, the use'of insulating-bands in p'la'ceof sepa# i'ators permits reduction of thnternal re; sistance ofthe battery to a minimum. Such batteries will stand heavy' overcharge'sand abnormally high discharging 'ratesvwithout the disintegration which usually accompanies such abuse of ordinary storage bat! teries.

As to general advantages' ofthe insulating bands, it will be noted that the bands may be applied to the plates before they are formed, and consequently the handling of separators and' losses ""hrough 'breakage container of suitable dimensions, the container being made o f glass, vulcanized rubberffor-other suitableyracid-resistant material.

A plurality of negative plates 6 and positive plates 7 are supported within-fthe container.

The'positivef-plates 7 are lembraced by bands 8 'of'mate'rial such asvce'lluloid as previously indicated. `The-:end -9 of the band 8 may be securedinjaisuitable .opening in the plate and'llooped laround 'the upper portion of theplatef, lpassingthence diagonally, as indicated at 10; across'the lface -of the plate, tfhen'around'frthe A.plate inan'other loop .11, returning diagonally gacross -the opposite face of the plate, the end 12 being fastened in fa lsuitable#openingiin the plate. Obviouslyrthe vWindingAcou'ld'be So-arranged that the tbands'pass diagonallyin opposite directions on the oppositeH-fa'ces iof 'the plate. Mln-Fig :Blof thefdravving the end 13 of theI continuous band "llt is i secured vto the plate'=and-1t-he 'band'is Wound in a diagonal directionfabout-the plate, its end 15 being similarlysecured tothe plate.

fi'lhe'ffpresentinvention is particularly marked by the simplicity of its application sincefordi-nary `'stock-material -may be employed'- {Without Waste. The application of the :ban'dsf'isireadily accomplished and the Work'may be performed by relatively unskilled'labor at -a' minimum expense. The bands'iinsuref' the proper separation of the positiveand negative elements of the battery Withouttc'ausing increasedinternal resistance or introducing any of the difficulties ordinarily met' in the manufacture and maintenance ofstorage batteries.

Other adyantages than those mentioned may'result fromA the application of the invention'fa'nd various changesmay be made inthe details hereinbefore described Without departing from the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. -I claim A plate for storagebatteries carrying active material and having a strip of Celluloid Wound-aboutjtheplate to serve 'as sole separating mea-ns v"when the plate is used with otheifpla'tes in a storage battery.

vIn testimony whereof I al'lix my signature.

NoRM-AN DEXTER sTUReEs. 

